


Judgment Call

by Slaskia



Series: Astral Aligned Continuity [22]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Gen, Near Death Experiences, Rescue, Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-01 23:12:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13305363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slaskia/pseuds/Slaskia
Summary: While on a mission to test his observation skills, Cadet Starscream makes a judgment call that may cost him his life.





	Judgment Call

_Era:  Golden Age_

_Vos_

This patrol was supposed to be a test of observation skills.  If they spotted an issue that needed intervention they were to call security then stand by for security to arrive.  However, his patrol partner was making that difficult with her constant whining and complaining.  

 _I’m going to get a processor ache at this rate._   Starscream sighed and rubbed his head, wishing Skyhigh would shut up for just a few kliks. 

“Why can’t we do this in the air, like proper seekers?” Skyhigh moaned for the third time since they started. 

“Because you would miss things that wouldn’t be missed if you were on the ground,” Starscream snarled in response. 

“Then let a grounder do this!  We belong in the air!” 

“We can’t be in the air all the time,” Starscream reminded her.  _I swear…her name should be Skywhines._   He did his best to tune her out rant in response and focused on their mission.  

Starscream really didn’t get the attitude many seekers seemed to have regarding ‘grounder’ things.  It had gotten him into many arguments and a couple of fights already since he joined the Air Academy.  Especially with Silverdive, whom hated him from the moment they met.  Of course, their first ‘meeting’ consisted Starscream punching him in the face when Silverdive was about to drop a grounder sparkling off a wall as a ‘joke’, so the hatred was _slightly_ justified. 

It had also been the act that had the Winglord _insist_ he join the Air Academy.  Whether or not that was a good idea, the jury is still out on.  Right now, it was leaning toward ‘not’, if he was going to have to deal with bots like Skyhigh on a regular basis. 

“You _do_ know,” Starscream growled, cutting off Skyhigh’s current tirade about how _filthy_ this section of the city was.  “That we’ll _both_ fail if you don’t cease your senseless prattling and _focus_ on the mission!”  

That finally shut Skyhigh up, blessing him with the silence he needed to observe with both optics and audios.  He was certain Skyhigh was still ranting mentally and likely just letting him do all the work.  The silver seeker didn’t care, so long as this mission was completed successfully, though he worried he may have missed a few things already due to Skyhigh’s whining. 

A sound caught his attention.  A cry of distress.  He immediately stopped, listening, trying to pinpoint.  Skyhigh started to say something but he put a hand over her mouth. There it was again, in the direction of a scrap recycling plant.  “Come on,” he told his partner before dashing off in that direction. 

“This is off our patrol path!”  Skyhigh complained.  “We should just call it in!” 

“Not without verifying the problem first!”  Starscream retorted. In a short time, they arrived at scrap yard that was connected to the plant.  However, the calls for help had stopped.  That could mean any number of things.  Most them not good.  “Search the area,” he commanded. 

“You’re not my boss!” Skyhigh retorted.  “And this place is filthy!” 

“Just do it!” Starscream snapped, making her jump.  After they parted ways, he kept a brisk pace in his search, wanting to find the source of the distress call.  It took several kliks before he found a sign.  

Drag marks.  He followed the trail, his frame tense and ready for anything.  When the trail ended he saw a pink and silver bike frame halfway buried in a scrap pile.  He quickly checked for lifesigns:  it was alive, though its neck looked partly compressed, like it had been strangled.  No other injuries from what he could see.  “Skyhigh!  Over here!” he called.  A klik later Skyhigh showed up.  “Help me pull them out.” 

“I don’t like the looks of this…,’ Skyhigh whined as they pulled the unfortunate bot out:  the pile oddly didn’t collapse as they expected, leaving a gaping hole.  “This looks like a-“ 

Before she could finish, there was a loud, angry hiss.  Bursting from the hole was the largest energon leech Starscream had ever seen.  It was almost twice as long as he was tall, serpentine in shape, heavily armored with a number of glowing biolights down its side.  The head was tipped with four sharp mandibles, each lined with sharp hooked teeth. 

“A Queen leech!” Skyhigh shrieked.  This was bad, that meant this leech was in the final stage of its life cycle.  Prone to attack anything it can wrap its coils around with the aim to add more ‘feeding hosts’ for its offspring. 

The leech’s head ‘looked’ in Skyhigh’s direction, then lunged.  Starscream intercepted it just before it reached her, slamming the beast into a scrap pile.  “Skyhigh!” he shouted, trying to keep it pinned.  “Get that bot out of here and to a clinic!  There’s a good chance they have been injected with larva!  And comm for help!” 

He didn’t look to see if Skyhigh complied, as it was taking all of his strength and focus to keep the leech pinned so it didn’t attack her or himself.  Then something hit him in the back of the knees, sending him flying onto his back.  The head now free, it lunged at him, but Starscream had enough wits about him to slash at it with his claws.  It shrieked in pain, recoiling away briefly. 

Starscream quickly got to his feet, but did not care turn his back to it.  The leech was ‘searching’ for him, its head low to the ground.  He knew leeches hunted by sound and vibration.  That meant any sudden movement would catch its attract its attention and it would be on him.  He did take quick look around to see that Skyhigh did at least grab the bot and run.  Now he just needed to get himself out of here. 

Keeping his intakes low and steady, he slowly and carefully started backing away.  These things were fast enough to catch a bot in mid-transformation, so just flying out wasn’t an option just yet.  He had to get enough distance to even have a chance of using his alt mode.  So far, he was making good progress, just a bit further and- 

Something shifted under his feet, making a loud metallic screech.  _Scrap!_   In an instant, the leech was on him, Starscream barely able to grab its head in time before it bit him.  What he couldn’t stop, however, was its coils starting to wrap around his body.  They got his legs first, pinning them together and making him loose his balance.  He felt to the ground once more. 

Then he felt those coils start to shift upward, searching for his neck.  If they got around his neck the following constriction would result in blacking out from lack of energon to the processor.  Then he would in the same state as the bot they just saved. 

 _I need to kill it._   He started slashing at it with one hand when he could, but he had to put both hands around its head after only a couple of seconds.  It was so strong he needed both hands to keep its head at bay.  He was only doing superficial damage though, due to a combination of lack of leverage, its armor and body shape. If anything, he was only pissing it off more. 

Then the coils found his neck. 

“Gak!”  Starscream gasped as the coils started to tighten.  Already he could feel the effects of the energon being cut off from his head.  His strength was starting to fail him.  In last ditch effort to try to save himself, he used his trump card. 

He used his sonic screech.  It would cost him his vocalizer for a few breems, but his vocalizer would be useless anyway if he was unconscious and being used as leech feeding host! 

It seemed to work.  The leech recoiled a bit, stunned, the coils loosening, allowing precious energon to flow more smoothly back into his head.  With his right hand, he started pulling the coils away from his neck even more. 

However, the leech recovered quickly and with only one hand now restraining its head, it broke free easily.  Then before he could grab it again, it latched onto his right arm, the teeth of its mandibles sinking in.  

 _No, no, no!_   Starscream knew what was coming next.  With his free hand, he grabbed the head again and pulled, but those teeth held fast. 

Then he felt its injector probe punch through his arm armor and into his protoform. 

He screamed, though all that came out was static.  Starscream could already feel the larva entering his lines, consuming all the energon that was being fed through them.  Somehow the claws of his left hand managed to pierce its armor, likely due to pure desperation.  In response, the leech had tightened its coils around his neck and he was starting to see dark spots in front of his optics. 

Starscream started to dig his claws deeper into the leeches body, hoping to hit a vital spot.  His strength, however, was fading fast.  He was losing this fight.  _No…not like this…I survived the Quintessons…I cannot…die…like…._  

There was a ‘whooshing’ sound and part of the leeches body suddenly slid down and landed with a wet ‘thump’ on his chest, oozing energon.  The coils around his neck loosened and the head lost its grip enabling him to finally pull it off.  His vision still was dark though, even as the body of the leech was pulled off him and his right arm was unresponsive. 

“Afterburn,” the familiar voice of Winglord Zephyr commanded.  “Check the nest to see if there are any more victims.” 

Starscream tried to say something, but only static came out.  His vision was getting even darker.  Was that due to the larva going through his body or was it due to an overclock crash?  Maybe both. 

“Take it easy, cadet,” the Winglord told him as he was lifted into his arms.  “You’ve done enough for today.” 

Just as well.  He went into stasis lock at that point.

\-- 

When he awakened, it felt like his whole frame was tingling.  “Ugh…,” he moaned, attempting to move, only to find his movements to be rather sluggish.  Plus moving only intensified that tingling feeling, almost to the point of actual pain.  Not moving was a better idea. 

Finally, he opened his optics, to be greeted with the sight of a ICU room.  There were monitoring equipment everywhere and many cables were attached to his chassis, including a couple that were feeding fluids into his systems.  One he guessed was energon by its bright blue color.  The other, was a sickly yellow translucent color: it was likely what they were using to kill the larva in his lines. 

“Oh good, you’re finally awake,” a red and white seeker medic commented as she entered the room.  “We were getting worried.” 

“H-how long was I out?” Starscream asked.  He figured it had to have been at least a few breems considering he could talk. 

“Three cycles.  That leech really gave you a big batch of larva,” the medic stated as she checked him over.  “So much we were afraid we were going to lose you before the medicine could do anything.” 

“Heh…guess I really pissed it off….”  He managed a weak smile.  “Hey…there was…a bike frame that was caught by that thing…do you know if they are OK?” 

“She’s fine,” a new, but familiar voice replied.  Starscream looked at threshold to see Winglord Zephyr standing there.  “In fact, she has already been cleared and released.” 

“Thank the AllSpark…,” Starscream sighed with relief.  

“She was fortunate you heard her cries for help when you did,” Zephyr continued, stepping into room fully to stand by his berthside.  “Inspector Arcee was there investigating a number of disappearances when the queen leech caught her off guard.  If you hadn’t arrived when you did…there would have been six corpses in that nest.” 

Starscream’s optics widened.  “Th-they couldn’t be saved?” 

“They were either already dead or too far gone to save,” Zephyr stated regretfully.  “That nest has been cleared and exterminators are currently combing through that yard for more.  That plant is going to get some hefty fines for not properly keeping their yard clear of vermin.  We were fortunate it was a leech nest and not a scraplet nest.” 

Starscream shuddered at the very thought of being swarmed and eaten alive by those things.  Leeches at least render you unconscious!  “In that case, I’m glad Skyhigh did listen to me,” Starscream muttered.  “Pity she spent most of the time _whining_ ….” 

“Skyhigh has quit the Academy,” Zephyr stated sourly.  “She said the duties she had to perform were ‘not to her taste’” 

Starscream snorted.  “Why am I not surprised?”  Then, finally, his concerns turned toward himself.  “Winglord…I know I broke the rules of the mission…I-“ 

Zephyr had his hand up, silencing him.  “This wasn’t just a test of observation, Starscream, but a test of leadership.” 

“What?”  Starscream blinked at him, confused.

“You made a judgement call, one any leader worth their enegron would have made,” Zephyr explained.  “Yes, you broke the rule about leaving your assigned patrol path, but if you had not, another bot would have been lost to that leech…and who knows how many more would have met the same fate before that nest was found.  You put other’s ahead of yourself and you are not afraid to get your own hands dirty because of it, the latter a quality many leaders lack, unfortunately.” 

“I….”  Starscream felt a bit overwhelmed by this.  Him?  A leader?  “I understand, Winglord.  I…think?” 

The Winglord chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.  “Don’t think too much on it, Starscream.  You just need to do what comes to you naturally.  For now, you need to rest.  You have a couple more cycles of treatment ahead of you before you can be cleared for duty.” 

“Precautionary measure, mainly,” the medic, whom he had honestly forgot was there, pipped up.  “Probably not necessary but with the condition you were in, we don’t want to take any chances.” 

“Understandable…though I don’t relish the thought of having to drink medical grade…,” Starscream grumbled. 

“Starscream, _no one_ relishes the thought of drinking that stuff!” Zephyr sighed.  “Anyone that does needs their processor checked.” 

At that the medic looked rather sheepish and quietly left the room.  Zephyr and Starscream looked at each other, blinked, then burst out laughing. 

Laughing hurt him at that moment, but Primus, he needed a good laugh after what he went through.

**Author's Note:**

> Original idea had Starscream saving a sparkling (which would have been either Wheeljack or Bulkhead), but Arcee got herself in there instead.
> 
> Speaking of Arcee, for some reason I always picture her has some kind of police officer pre-war (and post-war).
> 
> I wonder how many members of Team Prime I can worm into my Screamer's background before his memory goes all buggered?


End file.
